A coming Wind

Hello everyone,

First, I am finished with this blog.  I have a host of content that I am frankly to busy to publish, and I do not want to post anything until it is ready. 

Second, I am going to try to streamline the purpose of this blog.  More details incoming when I'm ready.

--Shalom

Rain's A Comin'

Hello, I know it's been so long.  I haven't forgotten you!  I just haven't finished my other posts. 

I love C.S. Lewis.  I am hard pressed to find some writer, or even an individual, who is both so incredibly intelligent and having such a love of fun!  Last week, I was reading his Mere Christianity and thought I'd share a beautiful piece of word-craftsmanship from his book.  This really strikes me: either you love Christ or you don't.  You cannot tolerate Him; there is no middle ground with Jesus.*

You know, I think one of the hardest verses in the Bible to pray is Revelations 20:22b
 "...Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!"

Am I really ready and willing to give up everything and to ask Him to come? 
Do I want Him to end the world?  Do I want Jesus more than this life?
 I don't know.  I am simply trying, all by His power and grace, to desire Him more than everything else.


Book 2: Chapter 5. Last Section:

...Why is God landing in this enemy-occupied world in disguise and starting a sort of secret society to undermine the devil? Why is He not landing in force, invading it? Is it that He is not strong enough? Well, Christians think He is going to land in force; we do not know when. But we can guess why He is delaying. He wants to give us the chance of joining His side freely.  I do not suppose you and I would have thought much of a Frenchman who waited till the Allies were marching into Germany and then announced he was on our side. God will invade. But I wonder whether people who ask God to interfere openly and directly in our world quite realize what it will be like when He does. When that happens, it is the end of the world.

When the author walks on to the stage the play is over. God is going to invade, all right: but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else—something it never entered your head to conceive—comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left? For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike  either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature.

It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing: it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realized it before or not.

Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It will not last forever. We must take it or leave it.





*(By Jesus I mean the Biblical Jesus.  I am assuming the Biblical accounts of His life are true of course.  Based off the evidence, specifically 1 Corinthians chapter 13 and its surrounding research, I believe this this belief to be perfectly logical and rational. However, this topic deserves a longer post.)

A Quick Update

Hello you faithful few, you very faithful few: I have not forgotten thee! I apologize for the lack of content! I have been very occupied of late, and I have been writing some stuff for y'all.  I just don't believe they're up to my professional standards of eloquent excellency.   Stay tuned for more after a word from our sponsor!

"Beautiful Eulogy"

(This is an entry in Wisdom from Musicians.  A series dedicated to bringing you wisdom from artists.  Despite how hard it may be to find. )


This is a rap/song from Beautiful Eulogy (yes, the song is from their title).  I just thought I'd share it with yall.  but first, let me props a thought to you: what is a beautiful eulogy?  First of all, an eulogy is type of poem dedicated to someone's life after they have died.  It is supposed to praise or commend them for their life, or at least some part of it.  So what is a beautiful eulogy, from a Christian perspective? 

"When it is my time to go, go ahead and take me home, I wanna be with You."

"Well done, good and faithful servant.  Enter into your rest."

This is not our home, nor is it where we belong.  We are in enemy controlled territory.  Some day we will either join our King as He prepares to invade this world, or we will join Him when He lands.  Either way it's all good: we either live as Christ or we die and meet Him.  Either way it's about Him.  So a Christian/beautiful eulogy is one about a life that ends in Jesus. 

With that, enjoy the song! (you can download it for FREE LEGALLY in my previous post)

"Beautiful Eulogy"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78MXG7NEE2M

There used to be a time 

      when we were fine 

living life

 with no particular religious bend. 

Pretending to be our own Gods
inventing our own systems of belief so as to not depend 

on anything other than our own self governing consent. 

Defending an impending doom 

with no perceived need to concede or repent.

 Presuming our innocence in a sense dissent. 

The sting of death was only the inevitable end 

of everything we could never rightly understand or comprehend. 

We used to fear the unknown 

until God made himself known and atoned
mending the relationship between God and men. 

Giving his life as a ransom for many when he died and ascended,

and in that one event the certainty of eternal death was circumvented.
Making a way for the day when history stops and time suspends. 

Spending eternity in fellowship that never ends. 

We see the greatest expression of God's love extended
in the moment when those who were once enemies instead became
God's friends.

When it is my time to go, 

go ahead and take me home 

I wanna be with You.

I wanna be with You.

How sweet the Gospel sounds to ears like mine,

well acquainted with pain and strained relationships,

 friendships that suffer from long distances, 

or even worse they get severed from something more severe. 

And He still hasn't wiped away all my tears yet.

My cheeks get wet every now and then. 

Even when I give my best, I know I fall short.
I get scared when the ball's in my court. 

Focused on my performance, wretched and poor,

It makes the message more real when I preach it.

 I'm not there yet so I'm reaching,
reaching for a goal:

to stand before my King and be speechless.

Then, never again,

will I question if his grace 

is sufficient to cover my sin. 

Cause death is gone, and all
the effects of, evil and wrong 

will be conquered when His kingdom comes. 

So this is my hope and my prayer. 

The air that I'll breath in eternity with lungs that never fail me.

 If it pleases my Lord, and only by Your grace, 

use my life till it's poured out for Your sake. 

Until then I'll remain where You have me, 

with joy when I feel unhappy. 

And a peace that surpasses all my understanding,

 my life is in the hands of Your love everlasting.

When it is my time to go, 

go ahead and take me home 

I wanna be with You.

I wanna be with You.

Legally Free Music from Artists you may enjoy

Ok, So I've been doing some research for awhile on legally free music and thought I'd share some resources with y'all.

First of I gotta say, there's TONS of artists giving out their stuff for free, so I'm not posting everything I've found.  I'm putting up websites that are excellent resources for that stuff and some examples, not every single thing I've found.  IOW, if you like what I put up, you'll probably be able to find more yourself if you look.  Anyway, let's go:

B. Reith is coming out with a free remix-mixtape!  It'll be out the 29th this month.  B. Reith is what would happen if Eminem was fused with Jason mraz.  Honestly, I have a friend who hates rap/hip hop, and he enjoys this guy.

To download this song: http://www.tweematic.com/breith/thanks.php
 (If you don't have a twitter or facebook, click the twitter icon then in the next page click "<- Cancel and return to app" to go to a page that will let you download it)

Jesus Freak Hideout has a 37 song multi-genre sampler out! Click here to find out more and how to download it. I highly recommend it. (They also have a page for free music with samples from all genres--Sara Groves to Thousand Foot Krutch to Matt Maher.): http://www.jesusfreakhideout.com/downloads/freemusic.asp

Alright, sorry, but I have more rap stuff.  Bear with me.

Beautiful Eulogy's newly released "Satellite Kite"  and Theory Hazit's "Thr3e" are available from their publisher as FREE Downloads!!  If you like spoken poetry, you will love Satellite Kite, maybe even Thr3e.


To download these two FULL LENGTH ALBUMS (among others): http://humblebeast.com/downloads/

Heath McNease:
This guy is a beast of a work-horse. (Rapper/acoustic guitarist)  His albums here(Thrift store Jesus, Wed White Wu, and Outta Console) are free, unless you choose to leave a tip.  Just put the amount as 0 and you will be emailed the goods.  He's fun and goofy ("Tanuki") yet very mature at times(Ground Hog Day, Thrift Store Jesus, Survival of the Fiddest). If you like experimental/hip hop/video games/acoustic stuff, you will probably find something to like from him.

http://heathmcnease.bandcamp.com/album/thrift-store-jesus
http://wedwhiteandwu.bandcamp.com/album/wed-white-and-wu
http://heathmcnease.bandcamp.com/album/straight-outta-console-the-nintendo-thumb-mixtape
 


Noisetrade Stuff:

I can't recommend Noisetrade enough!! (Now there are a lot of non Christian musicians there too)  This is the site that I am most unfamiliar with, but here's what I do know. All the music is free, leave your email and they'll send you the music(you don't have to press the leave a tip button).  They're lots of artists, Lecrae(he has a full album for free!), Tedashii, Trip Lee, KB, Sho Baraka, This'l, and Andy Mineo as far as rap goes.  Sara Groves, Jars of Clay, Poema (pretty good sister piano pop duo.), Five Iron Frenzy, Iona (a cool Irish band), and Jon McLaughlin are some more artists you may be interested in.  There's so many! And so many I don't know! (And I know about a lot of musicians, albeit more of the lesser know variety). 

Here's the link: http://noisetrade.com/

Sheesh, who says there is no good Christian music.
 Take Care!


If you have some artists you wish to share about, leave a comment and let us know!  Just make sure the free music is LEGALLY free.  Just sayin.

To my Father

Yes yes, I know Father's Day was yesterday.  I wrote this yesterday but forgot to re-write and post it. Then I lost internet connection, until now that is.  Sorry! I'll be updating more often.

I love my family a lot.  As you all know today* is Father's day, and I just want to quickly say thanks to you Dad for your love and guidance.  We've been through some tough times together (though you've seen much more pain than me), but God has always taken care of us. 

The best thing about my Dad is how he loves my family and me.  I believe the definition of a man, in other words, what specifically makes him a man, is based on his ability to execute hard choices.  Furthermore I believe to love with a true, unconditional, self-less love is the hardest choice any person can make--especially since a man with such a lifestyle must make that choice every day.  To love much is to suffer much.
 
I believe that's why so many marriages fail--so many people are unwilling to sacrifice their desires and wants in order to love their spouse.  "Love is a choice" my mother would say.  There are so many "men" who think only of themselves and nothing or far too little of the needs and wants of those around them.  It's easy to love someone when they please you; it's hard when they wrong you.

But my father has always been loving to us. 

I don't mean he says "I love you" a lot. He makes mistakes; he's not perfect. No one in my family is!  But he always will show us that he loves us.  He is always showing (or trying to get us interested in) how to fix a bike or change the brake pads or how to set up an internet server, etc.  For example: once my mother's shoe was untied and he just stooped down--without saying anything-- and tied it for her.

Thank you Dad for your example of true love (the kind that can only come from God)

We need more real and true men in our world.

*By today I mean yesterday.

Mark 4:35-40

This passage really struck me the other week.

³⁵  On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” ³⁶ And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. ³⁷ And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. ³⁸ But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” ³⁹ And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰ He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”

"Let us go across to the other side."
That's a promise!  It's like He's saying, "Relax! We're gonna make it."  Think about it: Jesus--God Himself--told His disciples that they were gonna cross to they other side, shouldn't they believe Him?  


But then comes the storm, and as the huge waves and mighty winds buffet them, the disciples forget what Jesus said not 20 minutes ago and panic:

"Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"

Of course He does, He is in the boat too!  Besides, He just told you everything is gonna be alright.  He is so relaxed, so secure, that He falls asleep!


But what does Jesus do?  He delivers them at just the right time. And then He looks at them and says:

"Why are you so afraid?

Have you still no faith?"

   Man do I relate to those disciples.  He has delivered me through and from so much, why should I worry?  Why do I become discontent, sad, doubting, confused, afraid, or unsure?  Have I still not learned?  What reason do I have to worry?  I mean, what real reason can I muster?  All my questions and worries melt away when brought to Him.  God allows us to go through storms, usually to teach us and better us, and He may not always calm them for us, but He has promised that everything will be alright.  What comforts me is that even in the dire midst of the storm, Jesus was there.  He was always with His disciples, and He is always with us now.  Life may become hard and painful at times, but so long as I'm with Jesus, I wouldn't have it any other way. I pray He'll give me strength enough to rest in Him.